The first mentions of balloons can be called mythological... They relate to the legend of the ancient Karelians about flying in balloons made of whale and ox skin. They were used as a form of transport, carrying residents from village to village through swamps, forests and off-road terrain. There are tales of buffoons entertaining residents with painted bubbles made from animal intestines.

The actual confirmed invention of the hot air balloon belongs to the great physicist and chemist Michael Faraday. The great scientist and inventor, famous for his discoveries of electromagnetic induction, the laws of electrolysis, who assembled a model of an electric motor and a transformer, drew attention to the sticky qualities of rubber resin. For experiments with hydrogen, he made a kind of bag out of rubber, which became the prototype of the modern flying ball.

People have been talking about air bags used for fun since 1847. It was then that J. G. Ingram introduced the celestial flying ball.

At first, hydrogen served as a filler. The light gas lifted the balloons high into the sky, delighting an audience unspoiled by the wonders of technology. Explosive canisters were used until an extreme prankster set the city's holiday decorations on fire in 1922. The explosion led to the use of safe helium as a filler.

Balloons acquired their modern latex shell thanks to a patented invention by Neil Tylotson in 1931.

Natural latex is obtained from the sap of rubber trees by dispersion of water in combination with salts and minerals. This is a durable, elastic and environmentally friendly material. Decomposes well in natural conditions.

Balloons are an attribute of any celebration. They give a lot of positivity and lift your spirits. The creator of the bright object is considered to be the English physicist Faraday, who in 1824 made it from several sheets of rubber pressed together. Since then, the appearance has changed significantly, but the emotions caused by flying surprises remain invariably positive among people of any age. Not everyone thinks that the practical use of balloons is possible. And there are a lot of such options.

Interesting ways for the budget conscious

The subject of universal joy is fraught with enormous possibilities. You just have to look from the other side. Many useful items are easy to make for kids:

• Happy drum. The rubber is stretched over the top of the glass jar. With the help of pencils and the child's diligence, the musical instrument will sound. A son and daughter can sit with this toy for more than one hour.
• Painting medium. A slightly inflated balloon will replace the brush. Just dip the edge in paint and make bright prints on a piece of paper. The result of creativity will be similar to the works of great impressionist artists.
• Anti-stress animal. A rubber bag filled with kinetic sand will turn into a calming device. The item can take on intricate shapes, developing imagination.
• Decor for glasses. Cut “tails” of different colors can be tied to the stem of a wine glass. The children's party table will get a bright detail.

The attribute can also be useful for parents. Many housewives will approve of a competent household assistant.

Help with cooking

Kitchen gadgets are expensive, but everyone wants to create masterpieces. Alternatives to contraptions are very easy to find.

Non-standard uses of paper towels

Options:

• Delicious dessert plates can be prepared using chocolate and a balloon. The size is selected at will. First you need to make a mount so that the cup is stable. To do this, pour a spoonful of chocolate mixture onto a saucer. The inflated ball is dipped in hot chocolate and placed on the base. All that remains is to cool the masterpiece.
• Some dishes require quick cooling of ingredients, and ice cube trays are not always available. Water can also be frozen in a bright ball. The resulting assistants will provide the required temperature for both food and soft drinks. This option can also be used on a picnic; you just need to stock up on round “mini-fridges” in advance.

Use in the countryside

When leaving for a country house, many people risk forgetting to take some necessary things with them. It is enough to save the leftovers from the holiday in the closet so that relaxation does not turn into survival.

Ideas for the thrifty:

• The ball can replace a container for liquid; it can hold up to 2 liters of water. From such a “bucket” you can water a recently planted bush or tree.
• Flowers will not wither on the road if you place them in an improvised vase. The savior of plants will be a holiday attribute familiar to everyone. You can also make a full-fledged vessel for a bouquet from it. To do this, it is placed in a bottle or jar and the edges are secured to the neck.
• Seeds for sowing are also well preserved in the ball. You need to pay attention to the lack of moisture, otherwise rotting processes will begin.
• It is very easy to get wet in the rain at the dacha. To prevent a wet knitted headdress from losing its shape, it is recommended to dry it on an inflated ball. The main thing is not to overdo it with the size, otherwise the hat will stretch.

Interesting ideas for reusing cans

Options for Teens

Modern schoolchildren follow fashion and understand many technical innovations.

Not everyone has the opportunity to constantly buy expensive accessories for gadgets, but anyone can make them with their own hands.

Extraordinary ideas:

• It is easy to make a case for a mobile phone from an unusual material. You should inflate the balloon, clamp the outlet hole and place the smartphone on it. Gently release the air by pressing on the mobile phone. When the air is completely released, the rubber will fit tightly to the body.
• To catch the subtle sounds of music and increase the volume, just apply the balls to your ears. In Europe, they do not hesitate to use this method even at classical music concerts. What can we say about the Russian fun disco?

Stories from different countries

Japan is a place of amazing discoveries. Craftsmen came up with the idea of ​​tinkering balloons that resemble deli meats. Such props on store windows attract buyers and are completely uninteresting to insects.

In America they paid attention to art. Sculptor Larry Moss created copies of paintings by famous artists. He also developed a collection of extraordinary clothes from balloons. And the aerial sculpture even ended up in the Guinness Book of Records.

Today, hot air balloons and airships are primarily used for recreational purposes. Aircraft rides are a favorite pastime for hundreds of thousands of people around the world. In the USA alone there are 7,500 balloons, while in Russia there are about 300 similar aircraft.

About 400 different aeronautical festivals are held annually. This includes the Bristol Balloon Fiesta, the Big Bear Hot Air Balloon Festival in New Jersey, and hot air balloon festivals in London, Albuquerque, and Chambla. The enchanting performance of balloons “Night Glow” brings special joy to the spectators of such events. In the evening, pilots take to the sky and change the position of the burners so that the balloons begin to glow. Following the coordinator’s commands, the pilots coordinately extinguish and light the burners, creating fantastic images in the dark sky.

Aeronautical festivals are also held in Russia. In recent years, aeronautics festivals have been held in Perm, Yaroslavl, Kazan, Abinsk, Essentuki, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. In the summer of 2005, residents of 24 Russian cities took part in the MegaFon company's "Rise Above the Clouds!" campaign. The highlight of the program was the launch of Russia's largest thermal airship (41 m long and 13 m in diameter). At the same time, MegaFon’s show program took place on the ground: interactive competitions, various competitions with thematic prizes, as well as performances by famous musical groups: both local and all-Russian. The winners of the competitions received a unique opportunity to take a short trip in the basket of a hot air balloon or in the gondola of an airship. Hot air balloons occupy a special place in the modern sports world. During aeronautics competitions, teams perform the most intricate stunts. One of the most famous exercises is called “hare and dogs”. The “hare” balloon is trying to fly away from the “dog” balloons that are chasing it. The “Hare” tries to break away from his opponents and, having landed, place a goal in the form of a cross next to his basket. The “dogs” try to hit the target by throwing small bags of sand at it from a height. These and other aeronautical tasks are also performed by participants in the World Hot Air Balloon Championships, held since 1973. Last year, the 17th World Championships in this discipline were held in the Japanese city of Tochigi. Athletes from different parts of the world took part in the competition: Germany and Russia, the USA and Korea, France and Finland, South Africa and Australia. The young Russian aeronaut Alexey Medvedsky also performed successfully in the competition. And the American John Petrehn became the world champion.

Heroes of world aeronautics

Over the more than two-century history of aeronautics, dozens of people from all over the world have dedicated their lives to aeronautics. And speaking of the heroes of aeronautics, one cannot help but recall first of all the Montgolfier brothers, the French inventors of the hot air balloon. The eldest of the brothers, Joseph Michel (1740-1810), dropped out of school at the age of thirteen and ran away from home, subsequently became interested in mathematics and chemistry and even organized his own laboratory. His brother Jacques Etienne (1745-1799) was a successful engineer and engaged in paper production. The brothers made the first model of the future balloon (“hot air balloon”) in 1782. It was a small ball with a silk shell with a hole at the bottom. The inventors burned paper under the hole, the air inside the ball warmed up, and the ball rose to the ceiling of the room where the experiment was carried out. Then the brothers made several large shells and began to launch the balls in the open air. The brothers first showed their invention to the public in June 1783 in the French town of Annonay. An unmanned balloon with a shell made of rough linen covered with paper rose into the sky and reached a height of about 1800 m. On its second flight, which took place in September 1783, the balloon set off with a “crew” - a sheep, a rooster and a duck. And two months later, people took to the sky for the first time - Jean-François Pilatre de Rosier and the Marquis d'Arlande.

The Montgolfier brothers' compatriot Jean-Pierre Blanchard (1753-1809) also wrote his name into the history of aeronautics. For a long time, this inventor tried unsuccessfully to build an airplane, but after the advent of hot air balloons, he began creating balloons. In January 1785, Blanchard, along with the American physician John Jeffreys, became the first people to fly across the English Channel. The travelers took to the skies in the British port of Dover, and 2.5 hours later they landed in a forest near the French city of Calais. Blanchard was the first man to fly in America. One of the witnesses to the flight of the French inventor was the first US President George Washington.

Among American aeronauts, the merits of modern aeronaut and traveler Stephen Fossett (born 1944) should be noted. In 1995, an American made the world's first solo balloon journey across the Pacific Ocean. And in the summer of 2002, he became the first person in the world to fly solo and non-stop around the globe in a hot air balloon. His trip around the world began and ended in Australia and took 13 days, 8 hours and 33 minutes. During this time, Fossett flew more than 33 thousand kilometers. The American aeronaut also entered his name into the world record holders for flight speed. In October 2004, on the huge Zeppelin NT airship, he reached a speed of 115 km/h.

Russian pilots have repeatedly set records in speed, duration and altitude. Our country's engineers also made a significant contribution to the development of world aeronautics. An outstanding Russian scientist is Nikolai Egorovich Zhukovsky (1847-1921). Zhukovsky was one of the founders of aerodynamics. His work on the “theory of flight” invariably received approval and high praise from the world scientific community. In one of his speeches “On Aeronautics,” the scientist predicted: “A man does not have wings and, in the ratio of the weight of his body to the weight of his muscles, is 72 times weaker than a bird, but I think that he will fly relying not on the strength of his muscles, but on the strength your mind."

In addition to scientific works, the “father of Russian aviation” collected all kinds of flying models, kites, wind-up butterflies, etc. Zhukovsky is also a permanent delegate of Russian delegations at the world's leading aeronautical meetings. So, in the fall of 1906, he represented Russia at the Aeronautical Congress in Milan. Earlier, in September 1900, he participated in the First International Aeronautical Congress in Paris and flew in a hot air balloon. In one of his letters to his family, he wrote: “Yesterday evening there was a balloon competition (who can fly the furthest) in the Bois de Vincennes. The competition was organized by the Paris Aero Club, and 21 balloons took part in it, among which there were huge ones... An unprecedented spectacle, the whole sky was filled with flying balloons.”

Zhukovsky also played an important role in promoting knowledge about aeronautics. In 1904, he created an aeronautical section in the Moscow Society of Lovers of Natural History, Anthropology and Ethnography. In 1910, with the direct participation of the scientist, an aerodynamic laboratory was opened at the Moscow Higher Technical School. And at the end of 1918, Zhukovsky founded the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute.

The head of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources, Dmitry Kobylkin, supported the call of conservation workers to limit balloon launches at public events.

The leadership of the Far Eastern specially protected natural areas: Kronotsky (Kamchatka Territory) and Magadan (Magadan Region) reserves, the Land of the Leopard National Park (Primorsky Territory), the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Zapovednoe Priamurye" (Khabarovsk Territory) took the initiative to limit the conduct of actions using balloons.

Head of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources D. Kobylkin shared the concerns of his colleagues, noting: “With the growth of environmental awareness, it is time to reconsider some, at first glance, harmless habits. It is important that people understand the damage our actions can have. It would seem that we are talking about a small problem, but over time it creates a global one. Therefore, I understand and support my fellow environmentalists who know the trends.”

The mass launch of balloons has become an integral part of any holiday or event dedicated to memorable dates and environmental events in Russia. According to experts, this tradition contributes to the deterioration of the environmental situation in the world. Most often, waste from balloons harms marine animals living, including in protected areas.

Director of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve Peter Shpilenok emphasized: “Over the history of the reserve, cases of injury and death of seals, seabirds in the water area and even land mammals living on the coast have been repeatedly recorded in nets, plastic waste, pieces of balloons and decorative ribbons brought by the current. The death of the fox Zlodeya Zlodeich ( in the photo below, photo by Andrey Shpilenok). Thousands of people all over the world followed the life of his large family on the coast of the Kronotsky Estuary for several months. The animal became entangled in a piece of fishing gear washed ashore by the surf; it could not be saved. That is why today we are calling on organizers of mass events throughout Russia to refuse to launch balloons into the sky - an action that has recently become traditional, but remains thoughtless and destructive to nature.”

Director of the Magadansky State Nature Reserve Yuri Berezhnoy noted: « Symbolic, beautiful and innocent, at first glance, the action of releasing bright balloons into the sky is not so harmless. The balls pollute the most remote and untouched corners of our planet, creating an imminent danger for living things. The balls, having turned into garbage, continue to release chemicals into the environment for years. Birds, land and sea animals die painfully, becoming entangled in ropes tied to the balls. The bursting balls themselves become deadly food for fish, birds and mammals. I urge event organizers not to use balloons, because to bring people together there are many safe alternatives - planting trees, holding community cleanups in the forest and on the banks of rivers and seas, which will significantly improve the overall environmental situation.”

Director of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Reserved Amur Region" Vladimir Andronov noted: “In recent years, the situation with the launch of balloons into the sky has only worsened. During the holidays that take place on the streets of cities, thousands, hundreds of thousands of balloons are released into the sky every year for any reason. Helium balloons can fly more than 80 km from the place where they were released. And very often they fall in the form of garbage into our protected areas, where all living things suffer from it. I am sure that this issue should not remain without attention and support. In the interests of a healthy future, sometimes unpopular decisions must be made.”

« When people launch helium balloons into the sky, they do not think that they could cause harm or even death to another living being. Minute actions can turn into environmental disaster. A helium balloon exists in the air for no more than an hour. Then, under the influence of either high temperatures, or strong winds, or other external factors, the ball deflates and falls. In water or on land, it can attract animals, birds and fish as food. Ecologists around the world are increasingly reporting cases of animal deaths from latex, polyethylene or other solid waste they ate. Also, helium balloons significantly pollute the ecosystem, because latex takes about 4 years to decompose,” said the Deputy Director for Science

The hot air balloon has neither motors nor the usual rudder. From the entire technological arsenal - only burners, sandbags and a special valve in the upper part of the dome for air etching. How to control this aircraft?

From the history of aeronautics

The birth of hot air balloons was the first real embodiment of mankind's age-old dream of conquering the fifth ocean. In 1306, the French missionary Bassu first described how, while in China, he witnessed the flight of a hot air balloon during the accession of Emperor Pho Kien to the throne.

However, the birthplace of aeronautics is considered to be the French town of Annoney, where on June 5, 1783, the brothers Etienne and Joseph Montgolfier lifted into the sky a spherical balloon they created, filled with heated air.

The flight of the aircraft, weighing about 155 kg and with a diameter of 3.5 meters, lasted only 10 minutes. During this time, he covered about a kilometer at a 300-meter altitude, which was an outstanding event for its time. Later, hot air balloons began to be called hot air balloons in honor of their creators.

The Montgolfier brothers' balloon consisted of a linen shell covered with paper. To fill it with hot air, a fire of finely chopped straw was lit. And 3 months later, an addition was made to the design of the aircraft in the form of a special basket for passengers.

Modern balloons are undoubtedly more advanced, but they are made according to almost the same design. To make the spherical shell of the ball, a special thin and durable polyester material is used. The air heating system has changed. The fire function is performed by an adjustable propane gas burner installed in a basket directly under the dome.

Despite their greater dependence on the wind, modern hot air balloons are controllable. The flight altitude is adjusted by an outlet at the top of the canopy using a rip cord. A side valve is provided to change the course. There are also more complex designs, where another one filled with helium can be placed inside the main dome.

How to control a hot air balloon with a basket

Flying a balloon is an activity that requires serious preparation and considerable financial costs. Suffice it to say that a balloon pilot training course today costs about 200 thousand rubles. The price of the balloon itself (depending on the model) is comparable to the price of a passenger car.

Preparation

The flight is preceded by careful preparation. First of all, it is necessary to study the weather conditions - cloudiness, visibility and wind speed. In accordance with the received data, the flight route is planned. Due to unforeseen changes in weather conditions, a route is chosen where there are enough places along the way for safe landings.

Takeoff

It takes the entire crew to make the balloon take off. The best place to start is a flat area 50 x 50 meters in an open field, where there are no foreign objects nearby - poles, trees, power lines.

Then the assembly of the ball begins: burners are attached to the basket, which are connected by special hoses to gas cylinders. After a test run of the burner, the crew begins to stretch the canopy (necessarily in the direction of the wind). Next, the stretched canopy is fastened to the basket with special carabiners.

The next step is to fill the dome with cold air using a fan, after which the burner starts to heat the air. The heated air lifts the dome from the ground, and the crew (with passengers) takes their places. To prevent the ball from flying away, it is first tied to the car.

Flight

Despite the lack of a motor and wings, the balloon is controllable, which requires certain skills. The main controls are the burners and the exhaust valve. To gain altitude, the burner is turned on and the air is additionally heated, and to decrease, the valve opens slightly. Horizontal flight occurs due to a tailwind. This is where the pilot's skill comes into play. So, to fly faster, it can increase its flight altitude, where the wind speed is stronger.

Descent

The landing site is selected in advance. It must be large and safe. The ideal option is a football field next to the highway. The crew radios to the ground about the landing site. Next, the pilot releases air from the canopy using a valve. The ball smoothly falls to the ground.